recommendation

A friend of mine recommended that I listen to the song, "Falling Slowly" by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova. Good stuff! I guess they debuted in the movie, "Once." I haven't seen the movie but I'm hoping to soon just so I can hear this song again! haha. :)

Little children...

I just got done working the early shift at work. Bah! Mornings kill me! I'm the type of person that can purpose to find joy in anything, but I tell you what, mornings provide me with quite the challenge. I can't even talk about them right now lest I become too disgruntled at the very thought. haha.
Anyway!
Where was I even going with this...
Oh yes...
Earlier after I locked the doors to the pool I headed to the front desk to drop the keys off and fill out the usual paperwork...as is routine. Since its still in the AM when I get off work, I always just want to get out of there and get back home for a nap. So, I do what I need to do in focused silence, daring anyone who crosses my path to even give a nod in my direction. lol. Because of my lack of social graces in the morning I'm sure my coworkers think I have a split personality (Jackal and Hyde). Who they encounter in the morning is very different than the girl they know the rest of the day. haha.

WELL...today I'm filling out the paperwork, grumpy as ever, when all of a sudden a little body is wrapped around me. Unaccustomed to this sort of intrusion I was startled. I looked down to find Cami, a little girl that I had given swim lessons to last summer. Her and her little brother had captured my heart as they were both just completely adorable. Before I had time to react Cami smiled up at me and then placed her small hand into mine and said, "hi teacher." In that instant my defenses melted and just like that, the horrid morning blues vanished. Now, I have always known God to have a sense of humor but this morning beat the cake. My morning routine was completely ruined and now I find myself thinking about butterfly's and lollipops and its not even noon. Wow do I serve a God of miracles. haha.

Thinking about it now I can totally understand why God calls us to be childlike. Kids love so unreservedly. They hold nothing back which I find to be so brave. Any adult would have known by just looking at me that I was in no mood to be messed with, but then here comes this little 6 year old who comes straight to me and gives me a hug. My walls and defenses were completely invisible to her as she totally just invaded my personal space. I love that! Cami totally trusted that I would receive her and it was because of her sincerity that I did. I felt so loved!
Hmmm...goodness...there is so much food for thought here but I will just leave it as is.

Random inspiration...

The other day I was hanging out at my Grandma's house, like I sometimes do when I have a break from work. As I sat in the chair, grama reading the newspaper, me channel surfing I came across a music video on the Disney Channel (please bear with me). It was none other than Miley Cyrus, a name that I became all too familiar with last summer while working with Junior High girls. It was through their influence that I finally caught on that Miley Cyrus and Hannah Montana are one and the same! Wow. ANYWAY, all that to say I came across her music video "The Climb." I lamely watched the whole video, a lot amused but also somewhat interested in the lyrics. I'm a lyric junky! If a song has good lyrics then I'm usually hooked. Well, from this song, "the climb" one slice of the loaf settled well with me.

There's always gonna be another mountain.
I'm always gonna wanna make it move.
There's always gonna be an uphill battle
But sometimes I'm gonna have to lose.
Ain't about how fast I get there.
Ain't about what's waitin on the other side.
It's the climb.

The last three stanzas are what I related to the most. haha (goodness, I feel like a goof). I do have a point to all of this (don't worry I'm not about to confess that I'm a closet fan of Cyrus).

I was talking to a friend recently about how I tend to be all about the destination. If I see the big picture, then forget the details and lets just get there already. Details tend to bring me stress so I would just rather skip over them. Well I'm learning that that just isn't real life. I can't fast forward nor do I get to roll the dice and skip ahead a few spaces. I must live every moment of everyday, I must learn to deal with the details.
God was gracious enough to show me last year during a particularly grueling season that it's not just about enduring a season, but embracing it.
Or like the lyrics above, it's not about how fast I get there or what could be waiting on the other side, its about the journey. Its about embracing the journey and learning to enjoy each moment of it. I thought I was finally discovering how to do that but of course each mountain I come to seems to be just a little higher. Which is kinda cool, cuz each mountain seems to have prepared me for the next. I'm getting stronger and stronger and more accustomed to the ways of the hike.
As Beth Moore says, "This is about hiking, no pretty shoes or slippers allowed."
I guess bottom line I would rather skip over this season I'm facing cuz I don't quite know how to deal with it. I sometimes feel in over my head. I don't have a curriculum or recipe to follow. It's my life - unique and only lived by me. I'm learning that TRUST is going to be a big thing that I'm going to have to get better aquainted with. That and a more full reliance upon the Lord. I can't wait to get to the top of this mountain I'm facing so that I can look out and enjoy the view! :)

Hilarious!

more on praise...

My good friend, Jon, told me about a book called, "When Heaven Invades Earth" by Bill Johnson. I picked it up last night before bed and found myself eating it up til early this morning. So many good truths! In one of the chapters it talked about how we rely too much on what we see and not enough on what we cannot see. Below is an excerpt from the book:

"God is very committed to teaching us how to see. To make this possible He gave us the Holy Spirit as a tutor. The curriculum that He uses is quite varied. But the one class we all qualify for is the greatest of all Christian privileges - worship. Learning how to see is not the purpose for our worship, but it is a wonderful by-product.

Those who worship in spirit and truth, as mentioned in John 4:23-24, learn to follow the Holy Spirit's lead. His realm is called the kingdom of God. The throne of God, which becomes established upon the praises of His people, is the center of that Kingdom. It's in the environment of worship that we learn things that go way beyond what our intellect can grasp - and the greatest of these lessons is the value of His presence. David was so affected by this that all his other exploits pale in comparison to his abandoned heart for God. We know that he learned to see into God's realm because of statements like, 'I have set the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.' The presence of God affected his seeing. He would constantly practice recognizing the presence of God. He saw God daily, not with the natural eyes, but with the eyes of faith. That priceless revelation was given to a worshiper."

Isn't that good!? I thought it was worth noting and even copied it down in my journal. Ah! I so want to be like King David, but more so like Jesus. I want to be the type of person that has an "abandoned heart for God." Ever since I surrendered my heart to God at age 17 I made a vow that I would never settle. I refuse to be the type of Christian who just gets by...living off yesterdays manna. The God I serve is so awesome!

Last night in youth group I shared about what it means to be a follower of Jesus. The word follower in Greek, means to mimic what you see someone else doing. So if I say that I am a disciple of Christ, a follower or a Christian, then I should be doing what Jesus did when He walked this earth! It says in Mark 16:15-18, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well."

I challenged the youth to step out and be the type of Christian, Jesus desires us to be! It says in John 14 that, anyone who has faith in Jesus will do what He did and will do even greater things than what He did! I mean, WOW!
We see so little because we believe so little. The church is paralyzed by unbelief! Its time to BELIEVE! It's time to be men and women of faith. It's time to step up! Ah!!!! I ache for it.

sing praise

Lately the Lord has been dealing with my heart about rendering praise to Him.

All last week two of my friends, my mom and I challenged ourselves to abstain from making personal petitions to Lord for 7 days. So instead of asking the Lord to meet our personal needs, we were going to substitute in praise and worship. It was ironic that we decided to do this the week that we did, because it was the week where I had alot of things to bring to the Lord. Just alot of stuff that was on my heart to ask the Lord about. But I figured, He knows my needs and what's on my heart already - I will accept this challenge. Let me tell you, that week flew by!
I realized from this challenge that things in my life seemed less stressful and drawn out when I had an attitude of praise and worship. The daily irritants seemed petty.

Although making personal petitions is good and Biblical, this should not be what tips the scale throughout the day as I commune with God. Praise and worship should be the largest part of my life. Why is this!? Well, I think it's because personal petitions can easily tip into the selfish pool, making my quiet times more about ME than God. Therefore, as I determined to worship and praise the Lord throughout the day, my eyes were not so focused on ME but on Christ. Hmmm. The worry and and stress that sometimes hits me throughout the day or week was somehow eliminated and I found myself feeling kinda carefree and joyous.

"Praise helps you focus on what God is going to do in your life rather than you keeping your focus on what is happening around you."

It says in Psalm 22:3 that "the Lord inhabits the praises of His people." Meaning, the Lord shows up when we praise Him. Wow! Sounds good to me, aye!

I am also reminded of the story of Paul and Silas when they were imprisoned and they began praying and singing praises to God. As they did this God showed up and opened the doors to their prison cells and through that, revival pretty much broke out that night!

Sometimes things in my life seem so overwhelming. My finances, my job, my school work and just life, can press on me till I feel I will surely break. And its in those times that "praise" is literally the last thing in my heart to do. It seems so backwards - to praise God when things seem so awful and without hope.

Just this morning I started to think about my life. Everything I have to do, my bills, my work or lack thereof, and I could feel my forehead starting to crease with worry but very smoothly God interrupted me with one word, PRAISE.
I'm not going to lie. I did not feel at all in the mood to praise...I lacked the energy. But I had nothing else to do so I made my way downstairs and and turned on my "we cry out" dvd. Since I lacked the energy to lead myself into Praise, why not let Kim Walker lead. haha. I curled up on the couch and then just allowed myself to be washed in the worship and praise of the Jesusculture band. It wasn't long until my heart became engaged and my mood began to change and my eyes were once again correctly placed onto my King. My Jehovah - Jireh, the One who will provide all my needs. My Jehovah – Rohi, the One who will guide me in all things when I lack direction.

So I choose to put on the garment of praise today, Jesus. For I desire to please You and to bless You. Amen.